I had a visit from a beautiful baby girl and her parents a few weeks ago and thought I’d share because her outfits are true retro outfits worn by her mommy back in the day and I think that is really, really cool. She rocked them for her 4 month milestone session and I’m sure her mommy rocked them in the 70’s (I probably had some of these same outfits when I was growing up ;-). One of my favorite images can be seen HERE.

To help celebrate baby girl turning one, our session started off overlooking the city of Austin. 

She was dressed to the 9’s. I think this little girl accessorizes better than I do!

And then…a RAINBOW appeared!!!

Snuggles with her mommy. Also love this image HERE.

“Spider-Man” kisses with her dad.

And then…it was time for CAKE!

She had no problems figuring out what to do!

And, was kind enough to share. A little.

Demolition.

But this last series has me absolutely cracking up. “Caaaaaaaaake!” Price. Less!

From mom:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

My husband and I have been married for just over 5 years and we were blessed with the sweetest baby girl last year!

What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

We wanted to celebrate out little lady turning one! We can’t believe this year has gone by so quickly!!!

Where was your session held and why?

We wanted to have the Austin skyline in our photos because we absolutely LOVE living in Austin. We also wanted some nice greenery and Michele suggested Butler Park. It was perfect!

What did you like about your session location?

The view of the Austin skyline was the best part. We were wishing the fountain would have been running but unfortunately it wasn’t. {Gah…I know. Made me sad, too.–M}

What was your favorite part of your session?

Getting to play around with our little one. Also, the cake smash was PERFECT!

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

The rain and heat!! The weather tested us that day but it turned out great!

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

We choose Pinkle toes because of her amazing work. She captures moments perfectly!

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

I hope she can tell how much love we have for her and how much we love being together.

Yes, okay, so we had to all get up crazy early to catch this beautiful sunlight without catching the yucky summer heat, but I think we can all agree it was totally worth it. I was totally obsessed with big sister’s amazing curls and little man’s joyous full-body smile. And the pupsters were so completely go-with-the-flow…they were kindofamazing!

Boys. Girls.

Love that we are able to see little brother’s sweet face peeking through the kiss!

I was properly warned that this sweet girl was NOT a morning person and yes, it took her a little while to fully wake up and put up with my silly noises (see below), but once she did, wow! What a sparkling personality!

 (Cinderella 😉

My personal favorite image is HERE.

From Heather:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Wonderful husband, my sweet girl Elsa and my baby boy Cannon. Two goofy hounds Clyde and Daphne. 3 boys and 3 girls…lots of fun and chaos!

What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

I had always wanted family photos taken and now that our family is complete, it was time.

Where was your session held and why?

Heritage house in Pflugerville and a local creek. I wanted nature and old, vintage scenery with farm equipment etc. the location was great.

What did you like about your session location?

Everything…the big red barn, old farm equipment, the creek.

What was your favorite part of your session?

The creek. Michele doing funny things to get my daughter to laugh.

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

Preparation for the day.

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Michele would burp and talk in funny voices to make my daughter smile.

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Be organized/flexible and ready for anything because anything can happen.

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

Her previous work spoke for itself.

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

That they love the photos and we had a great time that day together.

I find it difficult to believe it was more than a year ago when we were celebrating the time they were waiting for her arrival (maternity photo session). And now here she is…a whole year old and she is a complete honest-to-goodness doll baby!

From mom:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Family of 3 with two furry kids that didn’t get to participate in our session. A is our treasured gift. We love the outdoors and love going on family adventures.

What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

First birthday!

Where was your session held and why?

Pinkle Toes Studio. We wanted some outdoor nature shots as well as intimate indoor pictures.

What did you like about your session location?

The greenery, the nursery and the ability to have indoor and outdoor option.

What was your favorite part of your session?

Capturing A in her pink dress.

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

Nope.

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Just trust Michele. She will capture your family regardless of location, weather condition or any other challenges.

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

Returning client. Did maternity photos with Pinkle Toes.

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

Despite all the rain, we managed to have a great session and start a tradition.

 Is she NOT a carbon copy of her dad??? LOL. I was totally expecting dark hair and dark eyes and I kept giggling at how wrong I was!

One of my favorite mother-daughter images is HERE. At the end of the session, she had worked pretty hard by that point and was very hungry. I love, love, LOVE that we got to have a little down time while her mommy nursed her. Their connection during this time? You can FEEL it in the images:

[Makeup and hair by Modern Muse Beauty]

I’m not even kidding when I say that we barely squeaked this session out. My friend Lauren drove in from Dallas just before the flood of 2015 (of course, we didn’t know at the time there was going to be all of that awful flooding) and we had such a small window of opportunity to photograph her family. Our big plans to hang out in downtown Austin were crushed and replaced by big plans to hang out in downtown Bastrop. But, as they made their way into town, it was getting darker and darker and we did not think we would be able to hold the photo session before the sun went down or before the rain started. So, a last-minute idea had them visiting me at my place again (we shot here last time, too ;-). I was truly grateful for Lauren’s amazing patience and flexibility and somehow, we pulled it off! Her hubby and the kids get major bonus points, too, for jumping right into a photo session after a long day of finishing the school year and driving. Pretty incredible, these guys. Oh, and I got to meet sweet baby P and he’s absolutely perfect!

This little dude has quite the personality and he’s REALLY, REALLY cute. This is definitely one of my favs. Followed closely by THIS one and THIS one.

From Lauren:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Well… we welcomed our fifth member to the family last July. 🙂 Our “bonus blessing” has brought such joy to us. As you put it, Michele, he’s the perfect little caboose to our family. 🙂

What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

We wanted to capture our family of five before our littlest one turned one year in July.

Where was your session held and why?

At the last minute, we decided to hold our session at the Pinkle Toes Studio due to travel restrictions and the always fun Texas weather! 🙂

What did you like about your session location?

I loved that we were all alone in a beautiful, private setting. It was wonderful to have such a special, private place where our children weren’t distracted by this or that and where we could let our guard down and just be “us.”

What was your favorite part of your session?

We loved all of it!

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

Ummm, yes! I always feel (and often look) like a goober in front of the camera! [Ha…not possible…Lauren, you’re GORGEOUS!]

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Hehehe, when Michele got ants in her pants. 🙂 [I’m glad you find that funny ;-)]

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Just relax and let Michele do her thing…she’s awesome!

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? 

I adore you!!! [Ditto!]

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

I want our children to look back on these photos and see just how much they are loved. We aren’t perfect parents, and we don’t have perfect kids, but we are so thankful for all that God has blessed us with (most importantly them) and want them to know that there’s nothing they can do to make us love them more…or less. We love our little family!!

As part of a very special project I’m working on, I was fortunate enough to be present the very moment he entered this world! This entire family is very dear to me and I cannot think of anything more wonderful than to actually get to document his (very fast) Birth Day.

And then, a few days later, we all got together again, this time during daylight hours to photograph their new family of FIVE!

Attention Disney Channel scouts: if you are looking for your next star, this little guy is your man right up there. He was cracking me up with all of his camera-poses!

Was trying to take pics of dad and his youngest boy, but oldest boy (AKA Mr. Disney Channel) couldn’t resist coming over and showing some love. I didn’t mind at all ;-).

And oh, the sister of the family. Little does she know how her little can-do spirit amazes and inspires us. She has been through soooooo much and yet she is completely unfazed and marches around like the princess she most certainly is.

 And this little prince. He has quite the namesake to fulfill and he is so very loved and adored by his entire family.

 Interesting tidbit: we used this basket during his older sister’s newborn photo session.

And this blanket was used in his big brother’s newborn session!

His little crown. So perfect for him.

And I totally emotionally lost it when she insisted that she place the crown on Mommy’s head. Yes, honey. Your Mommy absolutely deserves to wear a crown.

 He was made for this family. He fits in so magnificently (favorite image HERE). His arrival couldn’t have been at a more necessary time. He is needed. He is adored. He is perfect, Prince Jun.

All of my newborn photography clients qualify to add on unlimited mini sessions for their baby’s first year. It’s a wonderful way to document those major milestones in a child’s first year of life and experience all of the beauty in Austin’s “seasons”. This beautiful baby girl’s 7 month mini session happened to fall right in line with peak wildflower season, so at the last minute, we changed our location from downtown Austin to this incredible wildflower field filled with Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush. This family is completely gorgeous, but what I want to know is how mom was able to coordinate their outfits to PERFECTLY compliment the orange and blue hues of the flowers we were in? I don’t recall telling her what kind of flowers were here, but maybe I did? Or maybe she’s just that awesome? Yeah, I think she’s just that awesome. My favity FAV is HERE!

This is another one of those cases where clients have become friends. I’ve been blessed enough to experience so many incredible times with these lovely people…all the way back to when they were expecting their very first baby. I was even present at the births of their first two sons…both events to which I am forever emotionally tied. I will never, ever, ever forget those magical times.

And now we come to the caboose of their family…son #3, who is just as adorable as his older brothers and already immensely patient with all of the “love” with which they tend to smother him, lol! In fact, most of the time during his newborn photo session, I had to ask for less love from the big bros as I couldn’t see baby brother’s face, lol. I truly did enjoy watching these boys together, though. And mama…as a boy mom…is clearly worshiped by all three (well, four, counting her hubby) boys in her life.

Their grandmother has been present at each of their newborn sessions, too, so this was no exception. I just loved this candid moment snapped right before we had officially started.

See what I mean? Boy mom love!

 Gotta love those cute little newborn baby legs!

 I was trying to photograph the interaction of the three in front here, but the two monkeys in the back kept stealing the show ;-).

 So cute!

 I see sooooo much of his mommy in this pic!

 Love.

Of course, we had to revisit the infamous “family dinner table” photo now that they have a new addition.

 We were even treated to a visit from Buzz and Woody, who had me laughing so hard with their dance moves, I had a hard time keeping my images in focus!

I hope she doesn’t mind me posting this, but she looks so beautiful when she’s crying happy tears.

Yeah. I’ll say baby brother fits in quite perfectly with his family. Even during the crazy times like THIS ;-).

There is NO denying that these three are sisters. There is no question that they are STUNNING. There is NO doubt in my mind that dad is going to have his hands full when they are of dating age ;-). But for now, I think we can just appreciate this perfect, beautiful little milestone session just as the Texas wildflowers were starting to bloom (the last time I saw them, the caboose was just a few days old). These little beauties rocked it in every way possible and brought their A game to the fields! LOVED this image, but THIS might be my personal fav.

I mean how is it possible that his newborn session was an entire year ago? One thing I never imagined this job of mine would make me feel was old, but watching these kids grow up at the speed of light definitely has that effect on me. He was SO joyful and smiley at his session and he loved exploring the wildflower fields! He wanted everyone to share in his excitement, too, even me 😉.

I hope you had a Happy Birthday, little buddy, and it’s been pretty cool seeing  your little personality emerge!